Gate.



Patented Aug. 7, I900.

J. F. GLIDDEN.

G A T E (Application filed June 10, 1899.)

Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

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N0. 655,55l. Patented Aug. 7, I900.

J. F. GLIDDEN. v

GATE.

(Application filed June 10, 1899.) I Mfl fl i) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 THE cams PETERS 2a,. Pkoro-Lwuo" wAsmNu'rnn. D. c;

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIoEi.

JOSEPH F. GLIDDEN, OF DE KALB, ILLINOIS.

GATE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 655,551, dated August '7, 1900.

Application filed June 10, 1899. Serial No. 720,047. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH F. GLIDDEN, of

. De Kalb, in the county of De Kalb and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to gates, and has for its object to provide a gate of simple and inexpensive construction which may be readily operated to open or close the same without disinounting by a person on horseback or in a vehicle.

To this end the invention consists in certain novel features, which I will now proceed to describe, and will then particularly point out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a gate embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a plan view of the same, partly in section; and Fig. 3, a detail sectional view of the tilting rail near its pivot.

In the said drawings, indicates a tilting or vibrating rail, which is supported on a pivot 11 between its ends, mounted in bearings 12 on blocks 13 or other suitable supports. The rail 10 is slightly bent to form a very obtuse angle, the pivot 11 being located at the apex of said angle and at one side of the gateway, and that portion of the rail which extends across the gateway is preferably of greater length than the other portion, so as to give it a suit-able preponderance of weight for the purposes hereinafter set forth. If necessary, a weight 14 may be connected with this portion of the rail to give it the desired weight. Upon the tilting rail 10 is mounted, so as to travel thereon, a gate 15, which is preferably a metallic gate of comparativelylight construction,havingarectangularframe 16,01 wrought'iron pipe or tubing, a bodyportion or web 17, of woven or twisted wire, and suitable cross-braces 18. This gate is provided upon the lower longitudinal member of its frame 16 with two or more yokes 19, secured thereto and carrying grooved rollers 20, which fit upon the rail 10.

The gate is supported and guided between two posts 21, which are arranged in a vertical position a short distance apart and parallel to each other at one side of the gateway. The distance between these posts or uprights is such that the gate may move freely between them and will at the same time be held by them in a vertical plane. At the opposite side of the gateway to that on which the posts 21 are located are placed two similarly-arranged upright posts 22, supporting a cross-piece 23, on which are pivoted levers 24, supported on pivots 25, located one at each end of the said cross-piece. The outer ends of the levers 24 are provided with hand-grasps 26 for convenience in opera-ting said levers from a vehicle, while the inner ends of the levers 24 are connected, by means of a pintle 27 and yoke 28, to a rod 29, which is itself con nected at its lower end, either'directly or by means of a link 30, to the heavier end of the tilting rail 10.

Back of the posts 21 there is located a housing 31, into which the tilting rail 10 extends and within which the gate 15 may recede, so as to be covered and protected by said housing. This housing is provided with a latch 32, which is preferably U-shaped or yokeshaped, as shown in Fig. 2, and supported upon a pivot 33, and the gate is provided upon its upper edge with an incline 34, terminating in a beveled shoulder 35, with which the latch 32 is adapted to engage by gravity. In order that the latch 32 may be conveniently operated from a vehicle or the like, I provide a rope or other flexible connection 36, one end of which is attached to the latch 32. The flexible connection 36 passes upward and around a pulley 37, supported in a suitable bearing 38 from an arm 39 on top of the posts 21. Thence this flexible connection 36 is carried over a pulley 40 on a post or sup port 41, located a sufficient distance from the gateway on one side thereof, there being provided at the end of said flexible connection a suitable hand-grasp 42. A similar flexible connection 43 extends from the latch 32 over a pulley 44 and to a similar support and pulley at the other side of the gateway, so that the latch may be operated from either side.

At the rear end of the housing 31 there is provided a buffer-plate 45, carried by bolts or pins 46, which extend and are free to slide through a cross-piece 4'7, springs 48 being mounted on said-bolts or pins between the buffer-plate and cross-piece. Between the posts 22 is mounted a combined buffer and latch plate 49, which may slide in suitable ways 50 in the opposite faces of the posts 22, said plate being carried by bolts or pins 51, which are adapted to slide through a yoke 52, secured to the posts 22, springs 53 being mounted on said bolts or pins between said yoke and plate. The front end. of the gate is provided with a beveled and hooked latch 54, which is adapted to ride over and engage the plate 49, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The gate thus constructed operates in the following manner: When it is desired to open the gate, that one of the hand-grasps 26 which is on the side from which the operator is approaching is grasped and the outer end of the corresponding lever 24is depressed, thus raising the inner end of said lever and through the connecting-rod also raising. the heavier end of the tilting rail 10. This upward movement of the rail carries with it the gate 15 and its latch 54, which is thus disengaged from the plate 49, and since that portion of the rail on which the gate rests assumes a position inclined to the horizontal and downwardly inclined toward the pivot 11 the gate moves by gravity downward along said rail and into the housing 31, thus leaving the gateway unobstructed. As the gate moves within the housing the latch 32 rides uponthe incline 34 until the shoulder 35 has passed the cross-piece of the latch, whereupon this latter falls and by its engagement with said shoulder holds the gate within the housing, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, thus keepin g the gateway open and unobstructed. The butter-plate serves in an obvious manner to arrest the opening movement of the gate without damage to the gate or its housing. As soon as the lever 24 is released the rail 10 again assumes its normal position, with that portion thereof which extends across the gateway depressed or horizontal, while its remaining portion is inclined,as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the gate, however, being held from movement by the latch 32. When it is desired to close the gate, the latch 32 is lifted by operating that one of the flexible connections 36 or 43 which lies on the farther side of the gate, whereupon the gate will move out of the housing by gravity, owing to the inclination of that portion of the tilting rail on which it rests, and will move across and close the gateway. At the end of this movement of the gate the plate 49 serves as a bufier to cushion the blow due to the stopping of the gate, while at the same time the beveled and hooked latch 54 rides over and engages with said plate 49, which thus holds the gate locked.

It will be seen that the gate described is comparatively simple and inexpensive in construction and readily operated from either side thereof.

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise details of construction hereinbefore set forth and shown in the ac companying drawings, as it is obvious that.

these details may be modified without depart ing from the principle of my invention.

I claim- In an automatic gate, the combination, of the bent tilting ground-rail 10, weighted at its gateway end to overbalance the opposite end when the gate is mounted thereon, the gate 15 mounted to slide upon the ground-. rail, the pairs of uprights 21, 22, located at the respective sides of the gateway, the springpressed buffer-plate 45 mounted upon the uprights 22, the cooperating latch 54 mounted upon the end of the gate and adapted to automatically engage said bufier-plate, the gravity-latch 32 pivotally mounted to slide upon the upper edge of the gate and to automatically engage the catch upon the gate when the latter is'fully retracted, the guide-pulleys 37 mounted upon the uprights 21 above the latch and the flexible connections 36 extending from said latch over said guide-pulleys and to points remote from the gate, the cross-bar 23 mounted upon the uprights 22, the lovers 24 fulcrumed upon said cross-bar, each provided at one end with a handle, as 26 and the link 29 connected at its upper end with each of the levers 24 and at the opposite end with the weighted tilting ground-bar,substantially as described.

JOSEPH F. GLIDDEN.

Witnesses:

E. P. ELLwooD,

F. O. ORIGO. 

